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Business review

Resources and relationships (continued)


(Photo captioned: The Waitrose Foundation returns a percentage of profits from product sales to the farm workers who grow the produce)

(Photo captioned: John Lewis Partners raised more than £190,000 for their Charity of the Year)


Customers, products and suppliers (continued)

Responsible sourcing (continued)

By February 2010 all major food retailers, including Waitrose, were required to comply with the Groceries Supplier Code of Practice (GSCOP). The result of an investigation by the Competition Commission, GSCOP is designed to protect suppliers from supermarkets passing on excessive risk to them. Waitrose has worked hard to ensure all of its terms and conditions with suppliers are compliant with the spirit and details of GSCOP, and has communicated these terms and conditions to its suppliers.

Trading fairly

We support established schemes such as Fairtrade, which contribute to the sustainable development of the communities where farmers and workers live. Waitrose Fairtrade products range from sugar to cereal bars and ice cream to bananas, as well as Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar in Waitrose cafes. John Lewis products include flowers, wine and clothing available in our shops and coffee in our Place to Eat restaurants. John Lewis has committed to double the number of Fairtrade products it sells in 2010 and is also dealing with increasing numbers of suppliers, across several product areas, such as Traidcraft and People Tree, that are trading fairly and making a difference to the lives of those involved in manufacturing.

Set up five years ago, the Waitrose Foundation is based on the principle of returning a percentage of profits from product sales to the farm workers who grow the produce. The first Foundation, based in South Africa, has been involved in funding over 100 educational, social and healthcare projects such as providing adult literacy programmes, crèches, sports facilities, health care and skills training. Education bursaries have also been set up for the farm workers’ children. These have already supported two students who have successfully passed their courses and graduated and bursaries are currently helping four more students. Building on this success, Waitrose launched two further Foundations in 2009: one in Ghana for prepared fruit, and another in Kenya covering flowers and vegetables. With the inclusion of Ghana and Kenya, there are over 100 products in the Foundation range.

In 2007 the John Lewis Foundation was set up to fund and manage projects that support and service the communities, both in the UK and overseas, where John Lewis products are sourced. Our first enterprise is to set up a training college in Uttar Pradesh, India, where our rugs are made, to teach vocational skills to children in the local weaving community.

Community

The Partnership is committed to make a positive difference to the communities where it does business. This involves developing strong, long-lasting partnerships at a local level, and devoting time and energy to building healthier communities.

Community investment

The Partnership annually invests the equivalent of around 1.5% of its pre-tax profits in its local communities. The Waitrose Community Matters initiative donated over £2.5m in 2009 to a wide range of charities and community groups. This is a unique scheme as at each shop it is Waitrose customers who nominate, Partners who select the causes, charities and community groups and customers who decide, through a token vote, how much of £1,000 (£500 in our convenience shops) each month is given to the chosen three charitable groups. John Lewis Partners raised over £190,000 for the division’s 2009 Charity of the Year, which was Contact the Elderly, who host monthly tea parties for elderly people through a national network of volunteers. The John Lewis 2010 Charity of the Year is Beating Bowel Cancer which works to raise awareness of symptoms, promote early diagnosis and encourage open access to treatment choice for those affected by bowel cancer. The Partnership also continues to make significant donations to emergency overseas relief including the British Red Cross Disaster Fund, which makes monies available at short notice for emergency help.